A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert (A Commentary)

ETF flows 2019 was a record year of inflows to ETFs -- over $28 billion in Canada and now over $200 billion in total. The US has hundreds of billions of dollars each year. ETF inflows now exceed mutual fund inflows. A movement back into bonds by investors signals a risk adverse behavior following the trade related uncertainty. This caused a lot of inflows into low volatility ETFs. As 2019 came to a close higher market returns moved flows back into risk on investments. 2019 was a "Goldilocks" years as virtually all markets were up globally last year.

S&P Inverse ETF? Anything that is inverse or leveraged requires caution and he advises only highly sophisticated traders use these. HIU-T is an inverse S&P ETF in Canada. Volatility makes them erode over time, so be careful.

High-growth Tesla hit a $100 billion market cap today. Tesla laid the groundwork, such as developing powerful batteries, for its success....It's been a remarkable year for stocks this year so far, continuing the trend of last year with low interest rates despite sub-par growth. Pensions and others have little choice but to invest in stocks, given rock-bottom rates. Fixed income yields too little...The Bank of Canada today held interest rates at 1.75%. He doesn't see the Canadian economy weakening later this year and expects rates to stay put or drift lower. That could mean big gains to the TSX, certainly for utilities and REITs (defensive sectors) that will trade higher.

The US Fed has been cutting rates to buffer any negative impact of Trump's aggressive trade moves. It's not surprising that in real terms, U.S. interest rates are negative. Trump's hostile moves have driven global investors to American stocks and ETFs, which are viewed as safe. He specializes in Canadian mid-caps. Canada is two-tiered: one, the household names which are a crowded trade, and two, the midcaps which are great but not big enough to be included in the mutual funds of the big banks. Therefore the midcaps enjoy a discount.

What should my allocation be among Canadian, American, EM stocks and cash? An important question, so ask your advisor. Some points: EM account for 33% of global GDP, but 44% of world trade--dependent on trade. In this environment, therefore, EM, are disadvantaged. The US is a far bigger, diversified market, whereas Canada lacks diversity in tech and healthcare. He prefers US stocks.

Markets fell today due to fears of the coronavirus. Stocks got hit including gambling ones. Maybe this will have a big impact or it could be a yawner. Too soon to tell and we need more information about this virus.... Netflix reported after-hours. They face a lot of competition, but it's still doing well and he still likes it. Cable TV should be worried, though.... 2020 outlook: the sky's the limit for U.S. stocks as gains continue.

The Shiller S&P closed today at 31.75, indicating an overbought market. Is a near-term correction coming? He's never seen the markets move this far up for so long. What will derail it? The coronavirus? Something strong will. There's no stopping it in a low-rate environment. Doesn't see a correction.

Market. The impeachment trial starts this week and he thinks the markets are too heavily discounting a negative outcome. They are trying to paint Trump's issues here as not violating the constitution. The surprise here is that Trump gets impeached. He is expecting volatility because the market is expecting this to be a non-issue. From a simplistic perspective there are a couple of ways we can predict things going from here. The trend line started up at the beginning of 2019 and now is at the top of the channel. We don't know what's coming but when it comes, be prepared for a melt up. After about another month it could be another period of extreme volatility.

Dollar cost averaging. Buy the total world through ETFs. If you want a higher yield and better capital preservation, you might go with Balanced ETFs. There are lots of low cost versions but there really are none protection from low interest rates. There is no one-stop solution so look at an active ETF that focuses on capital preservation. There is not one ETF that ticks all the boxes.

Copper. He is much more for diversification. COPX-T is all the copper miners. It is one of the primary things. Looking back 10 years he wonders why you would own this. He does not think this is a now an early play but it does have cyclicality. He would not like this sector long term. You might be able to trade this short term.

The CAD$ is closer to the upper end of the range. He is about a market weight position for US$ (about 53% exposure). The CAD$ could drift a little higher here and then he would want to add to exposure.

Educational Segment. Natural Gas. With nothing trading on the cheap he is always looking for relative value. He has seen the gas sector show up. The carbon footprint of natural gas is half that of coal. There is an opportunity for us to replace a lot of coal with natural gas. LNG will let us transport it around the world. UNG-T trades the commodity and the problem is the forward contracts and volatility. From 2000 to now it has declined from $2000 to $20. It is the front month futures contract. He would look for natural gas over the traditional energy guys.

Market. He has been looking for a potential recession for a year. He de-risked his portfolios a year ago. The inevitable correction will be that much stronger. He has some growth bets and will not ever, not have positions in the kinds of companies he looks for. He also likes long dated US treasuries. Nobody knows what will happen in the future but he is prudent this late in the cycle to have positions that will do well if the equity markets falter.

The market is fast approaching year-end targets (already), continuing last year's rally. But more people are questioning how long this rally can sustain. That said, it's expected that interest rates will stay low and earnings growth will rise by high-single digits. Also, trade tensions seem to have moderated, though how much did the US-China trade deal actually solve? The markets are relieved that tensions have diminished, however....Boeing: there are discussion about a financing package. Nobody knows when the 737 Max will return to service, but the company needs capital now. Boeing just can't sell the 737 now, a big problem and a severe, long-term blow to Boeing's credibility as well as profitability.

The S&P is 15% of its 200-day moving average, and there could be a correction. If so, how much cash should I hold now (and how much to sell now)? He doesn't know when the correction will happen, but risk is increasing. The higher the market rises, the more he will prune positions. He carries 12% cash, which is high for a money manager. That level has been a little higher; he's bought a few position recently. That said, look at individual stocks, including those trading above their 200-day averages. Catalysts? Could be a geopolitical event or a sudden change in investor sentiment.